1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to arc spray systems and more particularly to arc spray systems apparatus and methods for spraying molten metal.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various types of arc spray systems have been used to spray molten metal on various types of work pieces. A major difficulty encountered with these systems is that they have been bulky and heavy which renders them very difficult to use in confined spaces such as encountered in the ship building and ship repair industry. Another difficulty is encountered in prior portable systems where movement of the feed wire head causes the mismatching of electrodes. Moreover, the supply of power, feed wire and high pressure gas to the head of prior systems has been by separate leads which has resulted in cumbersome systems. Another major problem encountered in prior systems has been equipment failure and shut down upon the occurrence of the feed wires becoming shorted or welded together during metal spraying operations.
These problems have been overcome by the present invention by providing light weight and compact head and supply lead designs that not only make the equipment more portable but also improve performance. Equipment failure and shut down when the feed wires become shorted or welded together has been overcome by providing a method of temporarily stopping the wire feed in order to allow the atomization to continue.